Sean Baker uses Best Director Oscar speech to advocate for movie theaters over streaming
Sean Baker won Best Director at the Oscars for Anora on Sunday night, one of four individual awards Baker won during the historic evening.
Baker topped Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez), Brady Corbet (The Brutalist), Coralie Fargeat (The Substance), and James Mangold (A Complete Unknown) for the win. He also won Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing and shared the Anora Best Picture win with producers Samantha Quan and Alex Coco.
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During his speech, Baker advocated for the theatrical experience and implored audiences and studios to support movie theaters and theatrical releases, especially independently run theaters that are currently at greatest risk of shuttering.
“We are all here tonight because we love movies. Where did we fall in love with movies? At the movie theater,” said Baker. “In a time in which our world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever: It’s a communal experience you simply don’t get at home.”
“Filmmakers keep making films for the big screen, I know I will,” Baker added. “Distributors, please focus first and foremost on the theatrical releases of your films. Parents, introduce your children to feature films in movie theaters and you will be molding the next generation of movie lovers and filmmakers. And for all of us, when we can please watch movies in a theater and let’s keep the great tradition of the moviegoing experience alive and well.”
Baker, the indie auteur behind Tangerine, The Florida Project, and Red Rocket, had never been nominated at the Oscars before. Still, this year he received and won a remarkable four bids: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing. Anora picked up two additional nominations: Best Actress for Mikey Madison and Best Supporting Actor for Yura Borisov. Madison won Best Actress in an upset over Demi Moore. Borisov was an expected loser in his category to A Real Pain star Kieran Culkin
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The awards journey for Anora started at the Cannes Film Festival last May. The comedy won the Palme d'Or, making it the first American grand prize winner at the festival since 2011's The Tree of Life, which also earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Neon picked up the film for theatrical distribution, as it has the last four Palme champs: Parasite (2019), Titane (2021), Triangle of Sadness (2022), and Anatomy of a Fall (2023). All of those films save Titane were nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. Anora is the third Palme d'Or winner to ever win Best Picture at the Oscars after Marty and Parasite.
For much of the season, Anora was the Oscar frontrunner for Best Picture in Gold Derby's odds. However, it hit a roadblock at the Golden Globes, where it lost all five of its nominations, while Best Picture honors went to The Brutalist (drama) and Emilia Pérez (musical/comedy). However, the film came roaring back when it won Best Picture at the Critics Choice and Producers Guild Awards, and Baker won Best Director at the Directors Guild Awards.
SEE'Anora' dominates 2025 Independent Spirit Awards: See all the winners
BAFTA was a split decision. Madison won Best Actress, and Baker and Quan were awarded Best Casting (a category that won't be at the Oscars until next year), but Conclave took Best Picture, and Corbet claimed Best Director, as he had done at the Golden Globes. So, the Oscars were far from settled in going into Sunday night's show. But it's settled now, and Baker is victorious.
And that's quite a feat for such an uncompromising indie film. "This wasn’t even made under a mini studio," Baker told Gold Derby in a recent interview. "We made this with a private financier, then sold it so that we didn’t have to answer to anybody. We made it the way we wanted, with no caveats." And now he's looking ahead, especially after Anora's recognition, which allows "my team of Samantha Quan and Alex Coco to move forward and continue to make these sorts of movies the way we want to."
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